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On Saturday, December 12 Santa invited all RRC staff and their children to have a Christmas brunch with him at the Notre Dame Campus. It was a great event and everyone had lots of fun!

Some of the organizing committee

The Brunch with Santa event is for Red River College staff and their children. It is organized by a College committee called the “Staff Club”. The committee organizes 2-3 social events per year for College staff. The Brunch with Santa has been a popular event for several years. Parents come with their children and have a delicious breakfast. Among other entertainment and activities, each child has an opportunity to sit with Santa Claus for a few minutes and receive a special gift.
What made the event and the entertainment so special this year? I decided to ask about all the features.“The event this year was very good. We got a lot more families than we usually had. The expectations every year is to try to make this event fun and enjoyable for families. I think we achieve this again and again and our committee and I work together to try to think and figure out what new things will be interesting and different every year. This year we had a visit from Anna and Elsa and Spiderman and we had Elsa singing a song which was very popular. Each year the program has something new; for example, last year we had The Bubble Guy for entertainment and it was amazing. We had a lot of volunteers who helped us to manage this event and we have a “Staff Club” of around 18 people who made this event happen. We started to prepare in October. To everyone we wish a happy, healthy holiday, and great times and memories with their families’’. (Janice Manson, RRC Events Coordinator)

Visit from Elsa

“The best part was watching the children. The children were so excited. When they looked at the elves and Santa, it looked like they had seen something special and it made me feel very good. This is actually what I expected to see – the children having a lot of fun and the parents who enjoying their children. Elsa singing was something new and it was definitely great. We made this event with a committee and we had been meeting about 4 months for this. At each meeting, everyone had a job to do and we came back to the next meeting and said “OK, I have done this, this and this.” It was great team work and Janice organized this really well to make sure that every piece was done. We are a great team! This holiday season, I wish every adult would have the same kind of joy that children have.” (Carolyn Schmidt, Language Training Centre Program Facilitator)

“This brunch was special. I got pretty much what I expected. I am so glad to see a lot of people and kids here. We want every year to have people come. More people came this year and we are glad. For the holidays, I wish for people to get together and have fun, not just on New Year’s Eve.” (Megan Havens, RRC Sponsorship & Public Relations Coordinator)
For the last two years, this event has had volunteers from the Language Training Centre. Volunteers played the role of “craft elves”. Throughout the event, the “craft elves” went to each table and helped the children make a simple Christmas craft.“It was fun to be “craft elves” today. I like to make crafts with kids; they are very creative. I decided to participate because I like to play with kids and make decorations. To be a volunteer, it is a great opportunity for me to improve my English and speak with native

Volunteer, Fay, with the author, Kate

speakers. Today I had a chance to improve my English and I am glad. Thank you! I wish for everyone to be healthy and happy in the New Year.” (Guangfen (Fay), LTC student and event volunteer) “I am very happy today. I am also an elf and I am so excited. This event is very useful for me because I tried to copy native speakers and speak naturally. Before I was so shy but this practice made me more confident. To everyone, I wish them to be happy.” (JinJin, LTC student and event volunteer)

Volunteers, Clara, JinJin and Fay

There was also a cookie decorating table. Everyone had opportunity to make and decorate cookies.

Some teachers from the LTC attended the event and shared with us their opinions about the Brunch with Santa.“I liked this event more than last year. I came with my two daughters and husband; we spent a great time together. To everyone I wish to be healthy, and spend this year with their family. Have a great New Year!” (Navnish Sidhu, ESL Instructor)“It was definitely a super time. Everyone, even the adults, could feel that Christmas and New Year are coming. Thank you!” (Naomi, ESL Instructor)

Our LTC blog team wishes to everyone a Happy Christmas and Happy New Year. We hope all your Christmas dreams come true!!!

– Post written by Kate Alekseienko, Intensive English for International Students

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